Martin Luther

Leader of the Protestant Reformation

Early Modern influential 281 sayings

Sayings by Martin Luther

The world is a great privy and I am a stool.

1538 — Table Talk, No. 4679
Shocking Unverifiable

The greatest gift of God is a pious, cheerful, God-fearing, home-loving wife, to whom you can entrust your property, and your children, and your all.

1531 — Table Talk, No. 128
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It is not a matter of choice for a woman to be a virgin or not; it is a matter of her destiny.

circa 1530s — Sermons on Genesis (attributed, general sentiment)
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Melanchthon is a miserable little worm of a man.

1540 — Letter to Justus Jonas
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I am a peasant's son; my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were genuine peasants. So I am a peasant and shall remain one.

circa 1530s — Table Talk
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Drinking and eating are the highest pleasures.

1531 — Table Talk, No. 147
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My conscience is captive to the Word of God.

1521 — Diet of Worms (attributed, part of his speech)
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The more a man is skilled in the Scriptures, the more he is tempted.

circa 1530s — Table Talk
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Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one. Through it, God intends to spread the true knowledge of religion through the whole world.

circa 1530s — Table Talk
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The greatest blessing of all is to have a good wife.

circa 1530s — Table Talk
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He who does not love wine, women, and song remains a fool his whole life long.

undated — Attributed, but often debated if truly his own words or a popular saying he adopted.
Shocking Confirmed

The law of God is not given to make us righteous, but to show us our unrighteousness.

1535 — Commentary on Galatians
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Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.

1522 — Preface to Romans
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I am much afraid that schools will prove to be great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount.

1524 — Letter to the Mayors and Aldermen of All Cities in Germany Concerning the Establishment and Maintena…
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Let us therefore be rid of the Mass and all that pertains to it, and let us use the holy Supper of Christ in its simplicity.

1520 — The Babylonian Captivity of the Church
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I am rough, boorish, stormy, and altogether warlike. I am born to fight with devils and factions, and to lay waste the kingdom of Satan.

1537 — Letter to Wolfgang Capito
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The greatest vice is pride.

circa 1530s — Table Talk
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The more one reads the Bible, the more one loves it.

circa 1530s — Table Talk
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Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits.

1538 — Preface to Georg Rhau's Symphoniae jucundae
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It does not matter what people DO; it only matters what they BELIEVE.

c. 1530s-1540s — Table Talk, or other collected sayings
Philosophical Unverifiable